CHAPTER 4 - THE TRUTH

Dot watched as her brother paced impatiently up and down the hallway outside Dr Scratchinsniff's office. With his arms folded, he seemed to be mumbling to himself.

'Wakko. Would you stop? You're making me anxious.'

'I can't help it! Why are they being so secretive!?'

'Yakko has a right to his own privacy. I mean I've been to Dr Scratchy's on my own before for my own private stuff. Why is this time any different just because it's Yakko?'

Wakko paused.

'Well that's just it. It's because it's Yakko. Brothers don't keep secrets from each other. And I know that whatever he's hiding involves us.'

'How can you be sure of that? For goodness sake Wakko, you're jumping to the conclusions here.'

'Think about it. Why is it that he's been spending so much time on his own lately? Why is it that he's gone quiet? He's barely uttered a word to us over the past 2 days. And did you see him when we left there? He couldn't even look at us!? That is not the Yakko I remember. Believe me or not I don't care but I just know this isn't going to end well.'

It was difficult to argue with Wakko when he was in that state. So set on what he had fashioned as the truth. True, Dot had her concerns but she was willing to give Yakko the benefit of the doubt. She could tell that Yakko was is great pain over this 'secret' and didn't want to give him anymore grief. Wakko, however, was the kind of individual who craved justice, so to him it was what you would call an 'injustice' that his brother had been clearly lying to him.

'Vakko, Dot? Vould you like to come back in please?' Dr Scratchinsniff emerged from his office and ushered the two Warners back in. Wakko hesitated for a few seconds before cautiously following Dot.

Yakko was sat on the arm chair, this time looking his siblings dead in the eyes. The dread in his face was blatantly obvious with the small beads of sweat on his forehead and his enlarged eyes. Dr Scratchinsniff went to Yakko's side and ruffled his fur a wee bit - to act as reassurance. They sat opposite to Yakko at the desk. In front of them sat a brown, rectangular hard back book. It was quite thick, with a lot of frayed edged paper. There was a thin layer of dust over the front cover but a large emblem was slightly visible. A shield with four quadrants. Three of them were really hard to make out but the top left quadrant had a capital W in it.

'Now I vant you both to listen to your brother very carefully. This is going to be very hard for him to explain unless you give him some common courtesy.' With that, Dr Scratchinsniff took a step back towards the bookcase, sat on a small stool and listened intently. He was ready to assist if need be but he wanted Yakko to do this on his own, as much as he could at least.

'Ok sibs...how do I start...' Yakko tried to gather his thoughts. How would he start? This wasn't just some 'I took the last slice of cake without asking' type secret, this was huge. How do you even start to explain a story that complex? Swallowing harshly then breathing deeply, Yakko blew the layer of dust off of the front cover. Perhaps explaining the emblem would be could starting point. He rotated the book so his siblings could see the emblem the right way round.

'What do you see?' Yakko started.

'Well there's a W up there.' Wakko pointed to the top left quadrant of the shield.

'There's a tiara! Or a crown I guess.' Dot pointed to the bottom left quadrant.

'What the heck is that?' Wakko screwed up his eyes trying to decipher what was in the top right quadrant. 'It looks like some sort of cross?'

'Oh and that's a flower! A...weird looking flower but yeah that's what it is.' Dot had then confirmed the final quadrant.

'But what do they mean?' Wakko questioned, giving his brother a puzzled look.

'This is the emblem shield of Warnerstock. Yakko explained. 'It's a far off place that isn't marked on most maps.'

'Warnerstock?' Dot was getting a serious case of dejavu. 'I swear I've heard that before...'

'Wakko's Wish!' Wakko exclaimed. 'Yeah it's from the movie we shot last year! Remember, that was the towns name!'

'Oh yeah! How could I forget my amazing acting skills!?'

'Ok so...what's the deal with this place?' Wakko questioned. 'I mean it's a fake name that the director came up with.'

Yakko shook his head and dug into his pocket, producing a metallic broach with the emblem embedded on its surface.

'I've had this for 7 years...'

Wakko took the broach and inspected it thoroughly. It was true the emblem was the same but the surface was scratched and worn. Some of the metallic paint was chipped as well. This had definitely aged.

'Ok so...what does this mean then?' Wakko ushered to the broach. Yakko seemed to be simply beating about the bush. 'C'mon Yakko just spit it out! What have you been hiding!?'

'Wakko! Don't!' Dot tried to calm her brother down but just like out in the hallway a few moments ago, he had snapped.

'I'm tired of being left in the dark! Tell me!'

Yakko was taken aback by Wakko's abruptness. He'd never seen his brother this desperate. Lifting the front cover of the book, Yakko prepared for anything. As his siblings inspected the page, he didn't dare watch their expressions.

'So...it's a smaller version of the portrait from the set of Wakko's Wish.' Wakko seemed unimpressed.

'That movie seems to be a recurrent theme here.' Dot theorised.

'Unless that's the point you're trying to make...' Wakko looked at the portrait again. To his understanding, one of the Warner Bros animators painted it from scratch.

'This was the picture they used to reference that painting...' Yakko lowered his head slightly, trying to avoid eye contact.

'...picture...?' Dot was confused. How could this picture be real?

'This picture was taken 7 years ago...' Clenching his fists, Yakko could feel the pulse in his neck.

'But...that means...'

'It's r-real...?' Dot now had a tear rolling down her cheek. She placed her hand on the face of the woman figure. A woman that she just couldn't recognise no matter how hard she tried.

'Wait hang on!' Wakko piped up. 'How can this be real!? We were born here! Well drawn here. At Warner Brothers Studios...right...?'

Yakko began to stutter with her answers. The pressure was building.

'...no...w-we weren't born here...'

'...Warnerstock?' Wakko looked at the photo. He looked so young. Yakko stood proudly next to a man who was sat in a throne style seat. Wakko was sitting on this man's knee, wearing his usual red cap. The same red cap perhaps? Dot was only a baby. She was sat on the woman's lap.

'Mom...' Wakko whispered. Her face was slightly recognisable. He knew he had seen her before. Dot stared at the page in disbelief.

'So our whole life has been a lie? Is that what you're saying?' Yakko looked at Wakko but was startled by what he saw. Wakko was angry...very angry. 'Well not to you! You had the luxury of knowing the truth!'

'You were so young! You and Dot! We knew you wouldn't remember anything as you grew older.'

'But why!? Why did you feel the need to hide it!?'

'I was just trying to give you a chance to live a life based on happiness rather than tragedy!'

'HOW COULD YOU!?' Wakko stood on his chair and slammed his two hands on the table.

'Wakko calm down!' Dot managed through her tears, pulling at Wakko's blue jumper.

'No! I'm tired of being calm! How could you!?'

You have no idea what I went through! What I did! For you two!' Yakko stood and did the same. He was now face to face with his brother.

'Oh I know what you did...you LIED! How could you lie to your own siblings!? You've been letting us believe utter rubbish our whole lives! We actually had a proper family! With a mum and dad. How do you expect me to act!?' Wakko moved away from the table, forcibly booting the chair out of the way. 'You know what I don't have to listen to this! Don't ever speak to me again!'

And with that Wakko ran out of Dr Scratchinsniff's office like a flash. Yakko's scowl became a frown. He sat back down placing his face into his hands, trying to fight back the tears. Dot still stared at the portrait, not crying anymore. Her expression was blank. Dr Scratchinsniff said nothing as well.

Yakko then felt some small arms wrap around his neck. Dot sniffled in his ear.

'Thank you for telling the truth, Yakko.'

'I swear my intentions were good. I never wanted to hurt you or Wakko. I thought it was for the best.'

Dot closed the book, picked it up and jumped off of the table. With her spare hand, she took Yakko's, giving it a loving squeeze.

'C'mon, let's go find Wakko.'